The present invention relates generally to an improved spindle arrangement for inclusion in a snowmobile front suspension, and more specifically to a spindle arrangement which is designed to induce a steering bias in attached skis to toe-out.
Snowmobiles typically are used over a wide variety of terrains and historically many different approaches to attaching the front skis have been used. One of the older forms of attachment of a ski includes an L-shaped spindle and is generally of the type shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,563. Another prior art attachment arrangement, depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,030, shows angled spindles, offset relative to the ski such that the rotary axis of the spindle intersects the bottom of the ski at the centerline of the longitudinal tracking of the ski. Another suspension arrangement, depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,314, shows a linkage type arrangement for attachment of an angled spindle 36. This arrangement is concerned with the rapid adjustment of the camber and caster of the skis. Yet another prior art arrangement for attachment of the skis to a snowmobile chassis is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,091, wherein a leaf spring and spindle are utilized. Finally, an arrangement is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,954 wherein a shock absorber, which has some similarity to a MacPherson-strut type of suspension system utilized in the automotive arts, is employed to attach the skis to a snowmobile chassis. None of these typical prior art arrangements are concerned with or teach the concept of an improved spindle as taught by the instant invention, i.e., the inducement of a steering bias in the skis to toe-out.